RAPPORT
WWW.RECORDINGACHIEVEMENT.ORG
Issue 1 (2015)
Results
The contribution of AlmaLaurea
Phase of use: The majority of recruiters used the
AlmaLaurea service for the pre-selection phase
(95%). When considering the company size, some
notable differences surface. Small companies
also use the platform for the interview stage in
28.1% of all cases, whereas this occurs in nearly
one in five cases in medium sized companies
(19.1%). Medium sized companies also use
AlmaLaurea in the final decision stage in nearly 1
out of 10 cases (9.1%). Large companies almost
exclusively use AlmaLaurea for pre-selection
purposes. This can be explained by the fact that
smaller organizations generally lack the resources
to complement AlmaLaurea’s services with
company-specific
recruitment
activities.
Especially in small firms, the responsibility for
these activities typically rests with the companyowner (Saridakis, 2013).
Satisfaction with AlmaLaurea.
Recruiters indicated that they are satisfied with
AlmaLaurea due to ease of use of the service
(7.5), a combination of reliable and relevant
information (both 6.9), relatively high quality of the
profiles (6.8), and an acceptable search period
leading up to a match (6.6). They are least
satisfied with the availability of up-to-date
information (6.3). When looking at different
company sizes, a discernible difference is that
small firms are more satisfied with the search
period leading up to a match (7.2) than large firms
(6.3). The reliability, relevance, and quality of the
profiles can be explained by the fact that
AlmaLaurea provides administrative, verified
information on the graduates in the database. This
leads to a compulsory revelation of information
which applicants might otherwise conceal (Autor,
2009). The presence of extensive search filters,
110 selection variables, and the standardized and
structured nature of information on graduates’
degrees are likely to reduce the search period and
promote ease of use of the system (AQU
Catalunya, 2008).
Perceived effectiveness:
The ranking of AlmaLaurea’s effectiveness within
the spectrum of other recruitment channels is in
line with the previously identified most used
channels (table 1). Respectively, the firms’
recruitment website and AlmaLaurea are the two
most popular channels, followed by university
placement services, general internet recruitment
sites, social media, and informal contacts. It has
to be noted here that university placement
services typically make use of the AlmaLaurea
database as well. When considering company
size, AlmaLaurea’s service is the only recruitment
channel which ranks as a top 3 channel for all
company sizes. Among the three least effective
channels,
in
addition
to
“newspapers
advertisements”, there are the two main public
employment services, Cliclavoro and “Public
Employment Centres (CIP). This ranking is,
however, heavily affected by the size of the firms:
according to recruiters of small and medium firms,
CIP is the most effective channel.
Most critical characteristics of graduates. What do
firms look at when they search for their
candidates? Which section of the resume and
which information they consider most valuable?
First of all, they look at the type of university
degree they hold. Second, to their skills in foreign
languages, and third to their professional and
career motivations. Very important are also the
graduates’ soft skills, willingness to accept
geographical mobility, the software/computing
skills, their experiences abroad for work or study
reasons, the university grades attained,
graduates’ knowledge of the sector of activity of
the employer and, finally, previous work
experiences.
Again, it is interesting to note how the ranking
changes according to the size of the firms
involved (Table 2). Small firms, which make up
most of the Italian employers, especially value
graduates’ university grades and their knowledge
of the sector of activity of the employer. This
interest may be attributed to the problems of these
firms to adopt more sophisticated recruitment
practices due to their limited amount of resources.
It is noteworthy to stress that the standard
certified credentials such as the university grades
and, most important, the name of the university
that awarded the degree, play a minor role in the
recruitment process: recruiters do not seem to
consider those credentials valuable signals.
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